⏱ 8 min read

• Today we wish had hours unending to share with you from Mark 12, yet I believe even the little we share with you will be a great blessing.
• Jesus shared how religious people treat God’s messengers. Let’s dive in:

Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some. Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ~ Mark 12:4-6

• In this passage (v1-12) is a very important lesson Jesus shared on how we treat God’s messengers and the people who are sent to us.
• We are in God’s vineyard – that’s His Church – and God sends different people, one after the other into our lives to minister to us and what do we do? “Beat some, kill some, stone some…”
• In v6 we see that all God was hoping for is that we will receive and revere (respect) the people He sends.

Often we don’t receive and revere the messengers God sends to our lives. Sometimes we see them, we probably even recognise them but we do not receive them for what they are or as they should be to us. (Let’s look at a few points that can help us receive):

Relationships:

• You must know how to relate with the messengers and you must receive the person in the capacity that he or she is sent (not the one you know).
• God did not send angels, He sent ordinary men. So God will send servants who are your classmates, even younger messengers, undistinguished or poor people, rich messengers, etc.
• Can you see beyond that relationship and receive from them? “If you receive a prophet in the name of a prophet or as a prophet, that is when you receive a prophet’s reward.”

Example: Jesus was received as a carpenter in His hometown (read Mark 6), and they couldn't be blessed by the great anointing from the Son of God! I'm sure some of them were his former customers, some had played "hide and seek" with Him before, etc.

You can know someone in a certain way that determines what you receive from the person. [Eg. If I see my brother as a senior brother, that is the reward I will get from him. If I see him as the pastor and prophet he is, then I’ll get the reward or blessing his ministry carries].

Each messenger sent carries a particular word or blessing for you:

• Everyone God sends to us carries a special message or a blessing, and we must receive these blessings.
• For instance, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene in the garden after His resurrection and she reported back to us what she saw and what Jesus told her.
• Jesus didn’t appear to everyone, just to a few hundred people. Why didn’t He appear to Pilate and say “I told you so…here I am” or to Herod or the Chief Priests, or to everyone else in the town?

If that happened, Jesus would have had to appear every year to a different group of people to prove He has resurrected. Or bring each of us back in time (in a time machine) to see it for ourselves, and it is not possible. "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

• So one or two people will get the message (see, dream, hear, etc) and they will tell us. And we will either receive it and believe it or not. That is the only way it can be!
• God gives certain people visions, dreams, revelations, and instructions, for my benefit and your benefit (eg. I have never dreamed of heaven and hell, but my friends have).
• We can either believe it or not; Jesus won’t come to each one of us just to prove them right.

• In Mark 16:14, Jesus rebuked the disciples because they did not believe the words of Mary Magdalene and the other women who met Him at the tomb.
• So when we get to heaven God will ask us: I sent this person into your life, I sent this book and tape into your life, what did you do with them?
• You beat one, killed another and stoned another, you rejected them.

Afterward He appeared to the Eleven [apostles themselves] as they reclined at table; and He reproved and reproached them for their unbelief (their lack of faith) and their hardness of heart, because they had refused to believe those who had seen Him and looked at Him attentively after He had risen [from death]. ~ Mark 16:14

Accept delegated people; not just the main person

• We’ve seen that when we receive and respect God’s messenger for our lives, our lives change. And God is going to judge us for the people that He sent to us that we didn’t accept and flow with.
• Some of us love to relate with the main person and we cannot flow with the delegated messengers sent to us.
• And when you can’t relate with a delegated person, in truth, you can’t really relate with the original sender.

God relates with us directly sometimes, but then He also sends delegated people – people who work with the main person – to train you in how to relate with delegated people. If you can’t flow with them, I’m sorry.

Many of us have flopped or missed it in this regard. In the parable, God first dealt with the workers directly (v1), and they flowed with Him. Then later He sent someone else on His behalf but they couldn’t flow with the ‘another.’

• And so He kept sending and sending. And God keeps sending and sending us delegated messengers. In your own life, God will send many people to you.
• You must receive each of them, not just one or two. You must receive their words, counsel, books, tapes, etc. in such a way that it will be a blessing to you.
• How many of God’s servants have you thrown away? How many? Dear friends, God sends people into our lives.

Sometimes God sends a sister to talk to you, someone you must give to, a brother to advise you, a friend to teach you to pray or have your quiet time, a leader to rebuke you, even a child to straighten you up or direct you, someone to lead you closer to God., etc.

If you look carefully at your life, you’ll see that God has sent people into your life at certain points in your life. And after He sends another person and another (Eg. AWG may be just one of the messengers sent to you for a reason).

• Sometimes He sends a King Saul into your life, to throw a javelin at you and see if you’ll pick up your bow and arrow, and shoot back and destroy your everything in that one step.
• He’ll send broken people that you must give to and help. He’ll send Nabals to your life to not appreciate what you do, and provoke you to anger to see if you’ll attack…
• And then He sends an Abigail to give you advice and calm your temper. David said, “Blessed be your advice…” God sends people to us!

Pray: “Father, thank you for all the people you send to us, may we not stone them Lord, may we not beat, reject and kill them, Lord. Help me accept the people you’ve sent to me.

There is more to share but hey, you’re blessed! May we receive all the people God has sent to us appropriately and receive every blessing meant for us.

Do share your wisdom lessons from Mark 12. Remember to tag us on 📲:
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